


What can he offer?

by LaMalefix



Category: The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Immortal Husbands, Immortality Issues (Shadowhunter Chronicles), Immortality Rune (Shadowhunter Chronicles), M/M, Mild Smut, Mild emotional hurt/comfort, mild angst with happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 11:02:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20656175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaMalefix/pseuds/LaMalefix
Summary: Magnus adds smiling a soft, caring smile. “What can you offer me, you ask? Your love. Your love is more than enough”.“But I will disappear” he mumbles and finally has the courage to look him in the eye. And he looks so calm, so happy.Tags say it all, I promise a bit of fluff and happy ending, and that tiny bit of angst that adds taste to dishes like this!Or another infamous immortality talk no one asked for, leads to a more-or-less-almost-wedding.





	What can he offer?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aria_Lerendeair](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria_Lerendeair/gifts).

> This is a little something something for the amazing [Aria-Lerendeair](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria_Lerendeair), who is not only a very sweet and lovely pumpkin but specially an amazing writer! ♡

It is when Magnus is lying beneath him, tense muscles and head reclined, eyelids fluttering slowly, his breath is just a bit broken, a hoarse grunt escaping his lips. It is when he is perfectly abandoned to pleasure, that Alec notices it.

The signs, the signs of that recent battle are disappearing rapidly. Not that they should stay so bad on his caramel skin, nor he should lose his concentration, he is so busy trying to find that blinding and beautiful climax, and certainly can’t let that thing, that thing that gravitates in the bottom of his head, make him lose the thread of his actions, right now.

Feeling alive, and feeling it alive, for this, and above all the pleasure of doing it, that’s why they are so _busy_ right now.

He was so scared, those wounds that are quickly disappearing, were so serious and this, this act that they are perpetrating gently, slowly, between the silk sheets of their bedroom, is to feel alive, one against the other.

Magnus’s lips tremble, slowly, he seems to say something to him, and he reaches out to pull him against his chest, to snatch a breathless kiss from him. 

Alec arcs his back, an intense heat that starts to pool in his groin. That position takes their breaths away, and Magnus just laughs against his lips, before kissing him once more in the corner of his mouth.

“You seemed to be engaged in a conversation with yourself,” he puffs at him, his breath loosely choked in his throat. “You know you have to give me all your attention, right?”.

Alec snorts. “I thought about how beautiful you are”.

“_Ah_!” his love moans softly with a chuckle. “Flattery... _ah_! Flattery will take you everywhere...”.

He’s breathless, Alec. And tries not to think about it, to the signs that are disappearing, to the fact that everything disappears on Magnus. And that sooner or later, even the signs of his very existence will disappear. And maybe it’s not so bad. For Magnus’s heart.

Magnus squeezes better around him, and Alec draws another guttural breath between his clenched teeth. “Ah, _shit_. You’ll make me cum in no time!”.

“Eh!” he answers barely. "I had to get your attention”.

Alec drops his head to the side and kisses his temple, and snorts softly against his neck. He won’t last that long, and he should really take more time, last longer. Make it more satisfying for the both of them.

Alec slowly turns his hips, and the fight, their little struggle between those silky sheets becomes more slippery and deep. He savours the sweet moan that escapes from Magnus’s lips, who moves enough to welcome him better.

He moves, shifts his weight on one arm, while he lets his now free hand run to caress the base of his stomach, with trembling fingers, tracing a trail to reach his magnificent cock. He likes the way Magnus’s abdominal muscles vibrate and stretch under his caresses. The signs he has on his skin seem to disappear after each of his caresses. And Magnus arches his back higher, and stretches out his hands to gather his face, his eyelids flicker again, and he seems to focus on Alec again, and he smiles softly at him, a complete and utter devotion in his shimmering green-golden eyes, the slits of his pupils dilated enough to seem two perfectly round black moons.

The thoughts, again, throng in his head and Alec closes his eyes to recover a little bit of lucidity. 

His senses, all of them, in their entirety, are ready to welcome every single nuance of this act. And perhaps a small part of him thanks the Angel for the enhanced senses that he and those like him have granted.

His senses, all his senses recognize every single facet of Magnus, feeling all of his love, all his devotion, in his very flesh. His taste buds dance, full of his sweet kisses, the sour taste of his skin now that releases all this sex. His nostrils welcome the incredible smell of his bath oils and his now acrid skin. The sight catches every single movement of his face, of his eyes, the way they slowly widen when Alec deepens their contact, the way his lips bend and stiffen to hold back a groan. And then there’re his auricles, picking up every little variation in his breath and those sounds that are less and less subdued and more and more hoarse and go up with intensity, towards orgasm.

His magic, a sparkling murmur under his skin, invades every single corner of Alec’s body.

And Alec could swear to hear the sound of his own blood flowing in his veins, slowly, accustoming to that unique way in which Magnus’s heart beats, while his breath becomes more and more accelerated and breaks in mid air.

And for a moment he doesn’t think about it anymore. He no longer thinks about when he’ll be gone.

He finally relaxes his shoulders, while Magnus licks his lips and gets closer and chuckles slightly, while Alec pushes himself deeper into him. 

He knows, he knows how much he likes it, and he barely moves to kiss his jaw, breathing against his neck a husky groan.

The light moan that snatches Magnus’s breath forces him to pull his head back in a low moan. The clutch back and forth is driving him crazy, and Alec is also losing his thread of thought. _Luckily_.

He closes his eyes and feels his whole body, every single muscle, becoming more tense. It is a gradual accumulation, a tightening and building up of every single muscle at various levels, which leads to that blinding conclusion.

It is Magnus who embraces him slowly, then, and caresses his back with his fingertips, the movement is slow and sleepy, and he seems about to doze off. 

Alec has his face sunk in the crook of his neck and doesn’t want to think, he doesn’t want to think because they spent a good night together, and because if there’s anything better than making love with him, it’s clearly the next moment. The very next moment, when his hair is all matted and his face is illuminated by this wonderful expression that makes his eyes sparkle. And he feels his heart quietly beating against him, his breath slowly quietening.

And he doesn’t want to think about it and just wants to sleep, and Magnus seems to read his mind and snaps his fingers to turn off the light. He kisses the ripples of his ear, and stretches against him, starting to count the vertebrae of his back, a thing that he usually does when Alec needs to calm down a bit. Maybe he already read through him.

He groans softly and sighs. It ì seems to want to say something, his sigh, but he doesn’t say anything, he just kisses his ear again.

“Goodnight,” Alec tells him then, tightening his grip on Magnus’s hips.

And Magnus grumbles in assent, rubbing against him. And for a moment, just a moment, his heart seems to have found its place.

One day, all this will end. And it will end because he is on fixed term.

Magnus is the kind of person who loves one person at a time: one soul at a time. And as long as Alec will be in his life, that desire, that incredible devotion that shines in his eyes, which lights his smile, will not fade, he knows it. But the signs of his existence in Magnus’s life will disappear, as those recent scars are fading away. And maybe Alec wants this, he wants Magnus to move on, that that something that binds them now doesn’t make his heart dark, that he doesn’t end up miserable and alone forever. Forever is a lot of time.

One day, all this will change. Something, an accident, a battle, an illness, his job or old age, whatever it is, will take him away.

Moreover, eternity is only a word for many. Not for him, not for Magnus, eternity weighs on him, like a boulder, a desolate and bitter reality. Endless farewells, endless departures, innumerable wars, and the heart that breaks continuously, cyclically.

And Magnus is so easy to love, and knows how to love so much, with the bottom of his heart, he has this incredible light in his soul, and Alec and his departure, whenever it’ll happen, can’t deprive the world of it. So yes, if he leaves a mark, a part of him hopes it will disappear sooner or later.

He snorts and leaves Magnus and decides to get some fresh air on the balcony.

As much as he can change the world now, the changes may not last, like the signs he will leave on Magnus’s heart. His passage, his life, his love, will disappear sooner or later.

And if he could only, he would like to have the same duration as Magnus, whatever it is. Having the same time, means he won’t leave him behind when his time comes.

It’s a cold and moonless night, the one that welcomes him outside on the terrace. And it seems a little like that blankness he has in his heart, the sense of bitterness that digs into him.

What can he offer him? Beyond his devotion, beyond his love, what can he offer him? Nothing. As nothing will remain of him.

“What are you doing?” the voice is velvety and curious, and comes from the shadows of the apartment behind him.

Alec turns and looks at him out of the corner of his eye. He has the thick golden blanket over his shoulders and walks gracefully slowly. And Alec just smiles and holds out his hand, inviting him to join him. “Nothing”.

It is incredible that Magnus always finds his way to Alec, and is always there at the right time.

“Looking for shadows to hunt?” he mumbles, smiling. He picks up his hand and seems to shiver. “You’re frozen! How long have you been out here? Buttocks flapping in the wind, not that I don’t enjoy the sight, mind you”.

Alec shrugs his shoulders. “What are you doing here?” and his voice comes out just a bit cracked.

“Well, putting aside the fact that I wanted to watch the lunar pallor of your buttocks on a moonless night. And you know what? They sparkle.” he whispers winking.

And Alec suffocates half a laugh.

“And then you left me alone in bed, I needed your awfully hot feet to warm up mine!” he adds, smiling and just widening the blanket to make room for him.

And Alec is there looking at him and words, promises and requests are piled up in his head. The immoderate desire to stay by his side will be of little use when Magnus will be alive, for the rest of his immortal life. He doesn’t have this luck, and even if he did, words flew by, they took that road once and they turned in the wrong place, ending up hurt, and heartbroken. It is a delicate topic, and they will never face it up again.

When Alec finally gets close and lets himself be embraced and wrapped in the blanket, he draws a strangled sigh between his clenched teeth.

“Do you want to tell me what’s up?” Magnus murmurs quietly, his voice barely a whisper. “Or do you want me to pretend nothing happened? I can do it, I don’t want to, but I can do it. I can wait whenever you are ready”.

Alec sighs and drops his head on Magnus’s shoulder. If he concentrates enough he can send that thought away. He can enjoy the moment. This is what they started, enjoying the moment. As long as Alec is alive.

“Alexander?” Magnus says softly. “Is it for the mission, the other day? Excuse me, I shouldn’t have come along, you’re right... but it was dangerous and you... something could have happened to you and I... I couldn’t allow it,” he says slowly and rubs his lips against his ear. “Will you forgive me?”.

Alec shakes his head. “No, this is not it. If you hadn’t been there, Isabelle would have died”.

Magnus pulls a half sigh between his teeth, but he straightens his back and hugs Alec tightly.

And Alec swallows and shakes his head. He squeezes his eyelids so hard not to let his heavy thoughts fly away and reach his mouth and maybe come out.

“Alexander. We have to talk about it sooner or later” he whispers.

And Alec snorts. “There is nothing to talk about”.

And there’s a moment, a mere second. A little pause during which Magnus seems to gather his thoughts. “Catarina told me,” he finally says. “I thought we would have talked about it as soon as I was feeling better and instead... you have been weird for a couple of days. Even before,” he stops and straightens up in his arms just enough to take Alec’s head in his hands and move it enough to look into his eyes. “As much as it was some breath-taking physical activity, you seemed... _off_?”.

And Alec holds his breath.

_No one would ever choose immortality._ Catarina told him the other night, when Magnus seemed to be dying, demon poison that was taking his breath away. Alec had offered her his hand, asked her to divide his time in two and give Magnus a little more. She had laughed and put Magnus’s hand in his. _No one would ever choose immortality, it is a condemnation. But if you are the right one for him. If this is what you really want, I’m sure Magnus can find a way._

But what can he offer him? Only his indissoluble love, his complete devotion. Nothing else. Nothing sparkling. Nothing.

“We were getting better at this talking thing.” Magnus whispers. “What do you have in mind?”.

“I’ll disappear,” he blurts out, his voice trembling.

“You will disappear?” Magnus repeats, confusion glittering in his eyes. “What do you mean?”.

“I’ll disappear like the marks on your body. Like the scars of battles, like the other signs that I can leave on you. Sooner or later they disappear. I’ll disappear.” he nods shrugging. It came out so easily, yet is damn painful. “And I would like to take only the best from this thing and leave you only the best of me. Great sex, and lots of good memories but... I can’t help but think about it. I will disappear. And I’ll leave you and… and─”.

Magnus’s lips tighten in a slight grimace that is not at all satisfied.

“Not that it’s a bad thing. You are immortal, I’m not... and I don’t know, maybe even if I became one day or another someone will come and steal your heart and I... I─” he shakes his head. “In one way or another I will disappear”.

His eyes suddenly become severe, serious, and dark. He moves his hand to open the living room french doors with a puff of magic. “Come in” he mumbles then, recovering the blanket from his shoulders and starting inside.

“Magnus I...” Alec begins to say, trembling voice and trembling heart, every single step is like walking on lava. “I like what we have,” he mumbles, stepping in the living room, while Magnus disappears into their bedroom. 

And when he returns, he tosses a pair of pants at Alec.

“I would say that if we have to do this, we have to be both dressed. You know, my attention span when I see your _family jewels_ is like non-existent” he mumbles, reaching for the coffee table and sitting there on the edge. “Come on, come here, sit down”.

Alec sighs, puts on his sweatpants and sits down in front of him, his head down.

“Look at me, Alexander” Magnus hisses.

“Magnus, I repeat, I like what we have. I can’t aspire to... I’m sorry... it’s a bit selfish.” he shakes his head. “I’m sorry. I realize that it’s not... I’ve never told you any of this. I’m good with what we have, as long as we have it, as long as I live. That’s fine with me”.

“Look at me” Magnus repeats, his voice serious and raw.

And Alec looks up just enough to meet his eyes. The pupil is dilated and the iris is reduced to a small green-gold frame. “Magnus really...”.

“You are different from the others. I loved so much, or so I thought, that was until I met you, and I discovered a new way of loving someone, something more. Something that opens my heart and takes my breath away every single time. Mind you, I loved all those previous lovers, but you are different. Very different, you want me for who I am and despite who I am. You make my soul feel so loved, you make me feel so loved.” he says softly, his face is relaxed, he has a vaguely crooked smile that curves his lips. “And my heart beats in a different way for you and with you. And it fills up with you. And I’m happy with you. Happier than ever”.

“I know but...” and it’s true, he knows this much: it’s the same way he feels, even if he doesn’t have all those relationship in his past, even if he may love only him. But at least they are on the same page, for this.

And Magnus waits for him, to elaborate what lingers in the back of his head.

“What can I offer you?” he whispers, dropping his head on one side while shrugging his shoulders. “I have nothing to give you. And you can have everything, every single thing in the world”.

“Haven’t we already had this very same speech, you and me?” he murmurs softly. “On inverted parts, but you told me you wanted me, you want me. Full stop. And you chose me, and I want this. Only you.” he answers. “It’s the same for me. I loved so many people, but nobody like I love you, so we have to do this for a moment”.

Alec looks down again and begins to develop some interest in his toenails.

“Alexander,” he calls again. “I know you watch me sleep. You activate the rune to enhance your vision to look at me better as I breathe. Silence is different from any other silence of the past years when I’m with you, and you know how I loathe silence, I’m noisy, loud… I was alone for so long and even when I was with someone, even silence wasn’t like this. It’s pleasant, it’s sweet, it fills my heart, the silence we share together” he mumbles. “I hear you talking to me at night, while I’m falling asleep, as if you wanted to guide me to better dreams. You are in my dreams, you always are. And maybe you’ve always been there. Perhaps we have always been destined to be together.” Magnus adds smiling a soft, caring smile. “What can you offer me, you ask? Your love. Your love is more than enough”.

“But I will disappear” he mumbles and finally has the courage to look him in the eye. And he looks so calm, so happy.

“No. I don’t think so,” Magnus replies. “I talked to Catarina, and you seem to have asked her to give me more time, to share your life with me” he whispers and holds out his hands. “Is this what you want? Share your life with mine?”.

“I just wish...” he shakes his head slowly, dropping his gaze again to his feet.

“Alec, tell me clearly what you want” he whispers.

And Alec gulps twice. And moves his head again to look at him. And Magnus flashes a warm askew smile at him. “I want to stay with you” he murmurs finally. “I want to be with you. As long as I can”.

And Magnus’s smile shines more. “And if you could stay with me forever?” he asks.

“Forever is a lot of time. Would you want me forever?” Alec asks, frowning.

Magnus sighs. “Nobody wants immortality, Alexander. No one should ever be able to choose to be immortal”.

And these words hurt him, punch him in the guts and take his breath away. “I will disappear. And sooner or later love vanishes, burns away like a dying ember, and becomes nothing but dust and ash. The flame fades and only the void remains. No? Is that what you mean?”.

Magnus crouches before him, a grin on his lips. “Alexander. Why don’t you want to listen to me or make me talk in general?” he whispers, planting his hands on his knees. “No one would ever choose immortality because it is a sentence. To eternal life. You will lose so many things, you will lose everything you love, if you choose me, if you choose to have eternity with me. And then _I_ have to ask _you_ what can _I_ offer _you_?”.

“Your love” Alec babbles.

“It’s the same thing you can offer me, then,” Magnus replies, looking at him with this satisfied expression. “Is that enough for me, but for you?”.

“For me?” he snorts, shrugging his shoulders. “As if it were possible for me to become like you. I can’t become immortal, can I? So we’re talking about everything and nothing now”.

Magnus smiles at him and rubs his fingers over Alec’s lips as if to wipe away the slight grimace of disappointment on his face. “The desire that I have to stay by your side, until the end of your life, until the end of the world, if we are lucky enough, is something that is rooted in my heart from the first moment I saw you. This is selfishness, I don’t want to let you go. And I must confess that I never stopped looking for a way”.

Alec flickers his eyelids widening his eyes. “A way?”.

“To give us more time. To give us all the time we want” he says simply, shrivelling. “But, Alexander. What you said is true. One day you may not want me anymore,”.

And Alec blinks. “Nephilim love only once,” he murmurs.

“Very well. Because I’m ready to take root with you.” he answers and snaps his fingers. A strange thread of magic twists around his fingers and slides around Alec’s wrist. “It will be like having a parabatai, but we would be bonded. You and me... it is a very ancient ritual and it will remain the sign, certainly that. You will not fade, I assure you this”.

Alec heaves a breath in his teeth. “Are you sure?”.

“Alexander, I’m already immortal. The question is, do you want to be? Are you sure you want to become one? It is a sentence, immortality. And the emptiness that remains after all those goodbyes, after losing the people you love is indissoluble, lingers there, it hurts less with time, but stays there. And if you don’t want to, I swear to you, I’ll always love you, forever, as long as I can breathe. And the sign that you leave in my life will never disappear. The emptiness you will leave in my heart, when your moment comes will be there forever. In any case, you won’t disappear” he mumbles. “So think about it, think about it. If you still want to share your life with mine, and that I share mine with yours, then... we will do it”.

“Let’s do it,” says Alec, without flinching. He doesn’t even need to think about this. “Let’s do it.” He mumbles.

Magnus purses his lips. “I won’t ask you again. I take it for granted that you know what we’re going towards” he mumbles. “We’re connecting our souls. It’s an ancient spell that was in the White Book, I modified it enough to make it work by drawing on my life energy, from my magic”.

“As long as it doesn’t hurt you, I’m fine with it” Alec says.

And Magnus smiles saying nothing else.

And maybe Alec would like to say more, but he looks at him, while he is all concentrated and lets the magic wrap around their hands like a snarl that crackles slowly. And go up to their arms.

“Look at me, keep your eyes on me,” Magnus whispers and slowly begins to speak in an ancient and unknown language.

It looks like the ancient whisper of time, his voice becomes deeper and more guttural as the words start to build the spell. It is a demonic language, one of the many Magnus can speak, or maybe something more ancient, but one thing for sure Alec doesn’t expect his runes to begin to glow bright red, as when Magnus is holding the seraph blades.

The words go up in the room, the lights wobble up to disappear and it is only magic, which is now changing colour and becoming iridescent to illuminate their faces.

Magnus’s eyes sparkle red, and then they take that usual warm and firm colour, like molten gold.

And Alec’s head spins suddenly and the darkness begins to slip into his visual field from the corners of his eyes.

He tightens his grip on Magnus’s hands more, as if to avoid getting lost in the darkness.

He feels the thread of magic enveloping his heart and he feels it, he clearly feels the beating of Magnus’s heart in his chest near his own.

"Alexander? My love?” the voice is velvet in his ears and curls up in the crests of his auricles.

He finds it hard to open his eyes, a strange heaviness that weighs on him. He grunts, and slowly opens first one eyelid and then the other.

Magnus is sitting on the ground in front of him, with the tip of his fingers moves Alec’s hair from his eyes and slowly smiles at him, one of those half-smiles. “Welcome back, my sunshine”.

And Alec looks at him, and seems to realize only now that a sign has appeared on Magnus’s chest, a sign that wasn’t there before. And certainly shouldn’t be on a warlock’s chest. It just seems like a…

Alec stretches out a hand to draw the contours, slowly.

“It’s a demonic rune. I told you, it’s something very old this spell. The Angel gave Jonathan Shadowhunter the runes, but the oldest Demons were Angels before falling...” he mumbles. “This one,” he tells him, moving his hand to reach the very same sign that Alec has on his chest, just above his heart. “This rune binds me to you. Ties your life to mine and mine to yours. We belong to each other forever”.

“Forever” Alec repeats with a little grin on his lips. He has looked at it many times, especially recently, he has looked at a rune very similar to the one they now have on their chests, and apart from a few more signs, it is not so far from a rune that unites two hearts. “Forever…” he repeats, again, vaguely dreamy. “Forever sounds good”.

“A strong glamor should cover it, so it will be our little secret for a while and we won’t have to explain...” he mumbles. 

Alec follows its profile with his fingertips on Magnus’s chest. “It looks like one of the wedding runes, actually” he says softly, while the new rune seems to glow red for just a second.

“Uh, I’d say finally I have to put your monogram on the towels, then!” he mumbles, stretching just enough to kiss the tip of his nose.

Alec rolls his eyes, and if he could he’d do it more noisily. “I thought you would never have asked me!”.

“When your sister finds out we’re _almost more or less married_, she’ll chomp our heads off!” He then says, leaping to his feet.

“Well, I’d say this is the last of my problems now,” mumbles Alec, pulling himself up off the couch and interlacing his fingers with those of Magnus. “So we are _almost more or less married_”.

“Well, you said it looks like a marriage rune,” he mumbles, grinning.

“Magnus I know you have a Grey Book here.” Alec deadpans unimpressed.

And Magnus mumbles amused. “So you also know where we’re going now,” he mumbles, guiding him into the bedroom. “I claim my jus primae noctis... ready for another round?”.

“Are you joking? It’s our first night of _almost more or less wedding_!” he replies. 

“Then I would say that we will have to test our union and see if your stamina runes work on me too,” he replies with a wink.

“Ah, better warn the Institute that I will take a day off tomorrow...” Alec chuckles.

“_Almost more or less marriage_ leave! Yay!” Magnus chirps slipping out of his gold robe. “Your sister will really kill us”.

And Alec laughs and hurries to send a quick fire message, a very brief note. “If we allow her to organize a ceremony for us, I’m sure we’ll manage with just a long lecture,”.

And Magnus heaves a surprised sigh, as if he didn’t expect it, his proposal. “Do you want to marry me?”.

“I think we’ve already done it, _more or less_.” he mumbles, climbing onto the bed. “So? Do you want to activate a stamina rune or...”.

“Do you want to marry me?” Magnus says softly, a bit amused and a bit ravish.

“I want to be with you all eternity. I would say that things should be done in a certain way, you know how old-fashioned I am…” he answers.

And Magnus laughs, and approaches him, smiling and blowing a kiss on his lips.

And Alec feels it, Magnus’s heart beating together with his, the magic that runs under his skin that seems to warm every single corner of his body.

His infinite love, for an infinite time. 

This he can offer.

**Author's Note:**

> AHHHHH I'm finally out of my writer's block!  
At least I hope! 
> 
> If you've reached the end you are now my favourite person, I hope you enjoyed the ride! Feel free to leave whatever feedback you want!  
Thank you for reading.  
See you next time!


End file.
